Tough Easter itinerary could wipe smile off Saints faces

St Helens may have been able to watch the latest instalments in the Wigan soap opera with lofty detachment before this lunchtime's derby at Knowsley Road, but the Super League leaders do have a problem of their own. They have been saddled with the toughest itinerary over the demanding Easter period, flying to Perpignan tomorrow for their Easter Monday game against the Catalans Dragons, then returning late on Tuesday with only 48 hours to prepare for another tricky assignment at Salford.

"We're probably going to have to go into that game with a single 45-minute training session," said the Saints coach Daniel Anderson, an Australian for whom the idea of playing three games in eight days remains sadistically ill conceived. "It's a physical, brutal game these guys play and to ask them to do it three times in a week with so little time to recover is tough. The table at the end of next weekend could be completely different to what it is now."

However, it would be a major surprise if Saints are not still at the top, even if today's derby against Wigan is the easiest of the fixtures - yet another sad comment on the sorry state of their local rivals.

The Catalans, who also have a gruelling Easter weekend having flown to London to face Harlequins at The Stoop this afternoon, ended a three-match losing run in front of their own supporters with an 51-14 thrashing of Castleford last weekend, while Salford have made a mockery of the general pre-season prediction of another relegation battle by winning six of their first eight games.

Salford's Easter programme is arguably even tougher than St Helens', with a trip to Warrington today followed by a visit from Leeds on Monday, although at least they are spared the extra complication of flying to France. Warrington produced their best performance of the season in winning at Bradford last weekend and could pull level with Salford with victories today and at Castleford on Monday.

Castleford have been forced to call their assistant coach Brad Davis out of retirement for tonight's derby at Wakefield Trinity, where the 38-year-old Australian scrum-half remains highly popular after two successful stints. Davis replaces the injured Andy Kain in the Tigers squad but they have been unable to sign another Australian veteran, Julian O'Neill from Leigh, although they could hand a debut today to a third Aussie, the former Cronulla centre Paul Franze, who has been playing rugby union with London Irish.

Hull go to Huddersfield in tonight's other match under their caretaker coach Richard Agar, with Peter Sharp not expected to take over until the home game against Wigan on April 30.